COVID-19: Provincial & Federal Briefings - Jan. 17 - 18, 2022
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Summary of developments for Monday, January 17 and Tuesday, January 18 follows.
Federal Government Update
Health Canada Approval of Pfizer’s PAXLOVID Antiviral Treatment:
Yesterday, Health Canada announced the approval of Pfizer’s PAXLOVID antiviral treatment, a prescription COVID-19 therapy for adults that can be taken orally at home. The federal government has a procurement contract in place with Pfizer for an initial one million courses of treatment. Health Canada’s website states that treatment lasts for five days. Two nirmatrelvir tablets are taken along with one ritonavir tablet, twice daily, for a total of six pills per day.
Dr. Supriya Sharma, Chief Medical Adviser with Health Canada, and Dr. Marc Berthiaume, Director of the Bureau of Medical Science at Health Canada, held a technical briefing today discussing the federal government’s approval of PAXLOVID. Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, and Dr. Howard Njoo, Deputy Chief Public Health Officer, were also present. Dr. Tam also provided a written statement on the approval of PAXLOVID today.
Dr. Sharma said that Health Canada’s approval of PAXLOVID follows an expedited review of Pfizer’s submission for authorization on December 1, 2021. Rolling submissions from Pfizer were reviewed, including clinical trial results. Health Canada determined that the benefits of the PAXLOVID treatment outweigh risks.
Dr. Tam outlined clinical details of the treatment, noting that treatments must commence within five days of symptoms arising. There is insufficient existing data to support treatment following that five-day window. A positive COVID-19 test is required before a patient can receive a prescription. If it is not possible to receive a PCR test in the timeframe, doctors may rely on positive rapid test results.
Prescriptions will be prioritized for high risk groups, including the immunocompromised, the elderly, those in long term care settings, and rural and Indigenous populations. Dr. Tam stated that the unvaccinated will be a priority group as well, as they are at increased risk of serious illness.
Dr. Njoo stated that global supply of PAXLOVID is limited, but officials will continue work to secure better access for Canadians. Dr. Tam stated that initial supplies, although likely insufficient to meet demand, will help to prepare the system for increased supply later.
House of Commons Health Committee Study on Recent COVID-19 Developments:
Today, Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos appeared before the Standing Committee on Health (HESA) to discuss recent developments in the COVID-19 pandemic. Minister Duclos appeared alongside Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam, Dr. Stephen Lucas, Deputy Minister of Health Canada, and Paul Thompson, Deputy Minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC).
In his opening remarks, Minister Duclos summarized the Government of Canada’s recent action to combat COVID-19. The Minister stated that he held the most recent of six meetings with provincial and territorial colleagues on January 13 to discuss the pandemic and the provision of federal support resources. He also noted that the federal government has provided 8 out of every 10 government dollars spent to combat COVID-19.
Minister Duclos also reiterated that the government’s bulk procurement approach launched in 2020 has secured over 2.7 billion pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline workers to date. He also confirmed that 30,400 treatment courses of Pfizer’s PAXLOVID had already been shipped to Canada.
Dr. Lucas provided an update on Health Canada’s recent efforts to address the pandemic. He discussed the benefits of Health Canada’s expedited authorization process for vaccines and therapeutics, including its ability to receive rolling submissions from applicants as of September 2020. Dr. Lucas noted the importance of ensuring access to vaccines and treatments. Health Canada has authorized several treatments to date, including monoclonal antibody treatments and Pfizer’s PAXLOVID. Other submissions are being reviewed on a priority basis, including Merck’s submission fro authorization of its treatment. Both Merck and Pfizer offer treatments in pill form, which improves access. Current agreements with Pfizer and Merck secure 1.5 million total treatment courses; 1 million of Pfizer’s PAXLOVID and 500 thousand of Merck’s treatment.
Dr. Lucas outlined Health Canada’s commitment to assisting provinces and territories with surge capacity throughout the pandemic, emphasizing that capacity and tools have expanded significantly since the beginning of the crisis.
In response to a question from MP Ryan Williams, Conservative (Bay of Quinte, ON), on the status of approval of COVID-19 vaccines by Health Canada, Dr. Lucas confirmed that Health Canada is expected to approve the Novavax subunit protein vaccine and the Medicago plant-based vaccine within a couple of weeks. Medicago, which is located in Quebec City, is the first vaccine manufacturer to produce a plant-based vaccine to fight COVID-19.
Mr. Thompson outlined PSPC’s efforts to secure resources to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Early efforts focused on PPE procurement. Domestic manufacturers are providing a steady supply of masks, including through Government of Canada contracts with 3M and Mediacom for N-95 masks.
PSPC has agreements in place with 14 suppliers for rapid tests, with 433 million rapid tests secured to date. This regime will allow PHAC to distribute 140 million rapid tests to provinces and territories this month alone. PSPC also has contracts in place to facilitate testing of travellers arriving at Canadian borders.
PSPC has secured seven agreements for therapeutics and is pursuing additional agreements. Delivery timelines for PAXLOVID are in the process of being finalized.
Dr. Tam stated in her opening remarks that preventing severe illness and death while minimizing societal disruption remain top priorities. Omicron is the dominant strain in Canada, with cases surging beyond any previous points in the pandemic. The enormous volume of cases is diving an increase in severe illness trends. New daily hospital admissions will exceed any previous peak. PHAC is actively engaged with provincial and territorial partners to share guidance, experience, lessons learned, and best practices.
Dr. Tam stated that the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is providing ongoing support to provinces, territories, and Indigenous partners on key challenges including vaccine supply, treatments, procurement and distribution of N-95 respirators, distribution of rapid tests, and surge testing.
Dr. Tam noted PHAC is currently observing a rolling average of 375,000 doses administered daily. Over 88% of eligible Canadians have received at least one dose of a vaccine, with 82% fully vaccinated. More than 11 million Canadians have received a booster dose. Health care workers and those at highest risk benefit most from boosters. Canada has enough vaccine supply for all eligible Canadians to receive a booster dose.
Dr. Tam stated that Canada is at a critical point in the pandemic. She stated that continued vaccination efforts, phased border reopening, and the continuation of personal protective measures including masking will help Canada through this challenging time.
Don Davies MP., NDP Health Critic (Vancouver Kingsway, B.C.) asked Dr. Tam why herd immunity has not been achieved in Canada despite our high vaccination rates. Dr. Tam replied that many experts believe that we may never reach herd immunity with COVID-19 because of the constant evolution of the virus. She suggested we may have reached the endemic phase of the disease. As immunity wanes from vaccination and the virus continues to replicate itself with mutations, individuals run the risk of being infected or reinfected with the virus.
COVID-19 Data Trends:
In the past twenty-four hours, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) reported 23,606 new COVID-19 cases and an additional 135 deaths in Canada, bringing the cumulative total of cases to 2,801,451 and a total of 31,679 deaths. There are currently 331,376 active COVID-19 cases in Canada.
Vaccination Data Trends:
The latest vaccination data update, published on January 14, 2022, indicates that 90.57% of people aged 12 years or older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. 2.79% of the population aged 12 and older are partially vaccinated with only one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. 82.94% of the total Canadian population have received at least one dose. 77.10% of the cumulative population have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, with 87.78% of eligible Canadians 12 and older vaccinated with two doses. As of the latest update to booster data on January 8, 2022, 32.26% of people aged 12 and older have received a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, although there is a reporting delay for Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
48.35% of children aged 5-11 have received at least one dose, with 3.20% of children aged 5-11 fully vaccinated with two doses.
Ontario
Yesterday, Global News reported that Ontario is set to receive about 10,000 tablets of PAXLOVID, Pfizer’s anti-viral COVID-19 pill, from the federal government. A statement from a Ministry of Health spokesperson indicates the province expects to receive the shipment sometime by the end of the month. The spokesperson stated that prescriptions for tablets will be initially prioritized for adults with highest risk of severe outcomes.
Today, Premier Doug Ford spoke with Newstalk 580 CFRA, stating that “positive news” may be coming “later this week” with regards to restrictions and closures for certain settings in the province. Premier Ford alluded to a potential return to “other levels of restrictions.” According to Global News, a government source also said that the Ontario government will make an announcement sometime this week.
Also today, the government will begin accepting applications for the Ontario Business Costs Rebate Program. Through the program, eligible businesses may apply to receive a rebate payment of up to 100% for property tax and energy costs incurred for the duration of public health closures and restrictions.
The province reported 7,086 new cases and record high hospitalizations today. There are 4,183 Ontarians being treated for COVID-19 in general hospital wards, with 580 individuals in the ICU, of which 337 patients are on a ventilator.
To date, 29,561,731 doses have been administered in Ontario. Currently, 91.4% of the population aged 12 or older has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 88.7% have received both vaccine doses. In terms of the total eligible population aged 5 or older, 88.2% have received one dose and 82.4% have received both doses. The province reported that 46.9% of Ontarians aged 18 or older have received a booster dose.
Quebec
Quebec Minister of Health and Social Services Christian Dubé provided a COVID-19 update today. The interim National Director of Public Health, Dr. Luc Boileau, and the Assistant Deputy to the Minister of Health Dr. Lucie Opatrny, joined him.
Minister Dubé addressed the crisis in the healthcare sector. He explained that this crisis is caused by the high number of hospitalizations as well as the high number of healthcare workers absent due to COVID-19. The Minister underlined that the situation was improving. The number of absences, which was 20,000 a few weeks ago, is now 12,000.
Minister Dubé also said that while there was a slowdown in hospitalizations, the peak in hospitalizations has not yet been reached.
He reiterated that vaccination is the best way to get through this wave of COVID-19. He invites the population to get their first, second or third dose.
Dr. Boileau stated the hospital system remains under pressure despite the slowdown in hospital admissions. He reiterated the necessity to reduce contact, maintain distancing, and get vaccinated. He also reiterated the importance of getting a booster dose.
Dr. Opatrny said the use of the oral COVID-19 antiviral treatment, PAXLOVID, will contribute to prevent hospitalizations. She said the use of this treatment will be very limited for the time being because the province will receive limited quantities of the tablets during the first Q of 2022 - 6,300 tablets in January, 6,200 tablets in February and 19,000 tablets in March. Dr. Opatrny said a prioritization protocol for PAXLOVID will be put in place shortly.
Santé Québec reported 5,143 new cases and 89 virus-related deaths in the last 24 hours. There is a net daily increase of 36 hospitalizations, bringing the total number of people being treated in hospital with the virus to 3,417. Three more patients were admitted to the intensive care unit in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 289.
More than 16.8 million doses have been administered to Quebecers. The dashboard of Santé Québec shows that 90% of the total eligible people aged 5 years and older have received their first vaccine dose and 82% their second dose, and 34% of the total eligible people have received their third vaccine dose.
Alberta
Alberta Health Services provided an update on COVID-19 statistics in the province. There are 70,223 active COVID-19 cases. The provincial positivity rate is 38.22% Currently, 1,089 individuals are being treated for COVID-19 in hospital, 104 of whom are in intensive care. To date, 8,071,666 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the province. This means that 89.8% of eligible people 12 years and older have now received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, 85.8% have received their second dose, and 29.2% have received their third dose.
British Columbia
Health officials in British Columbia provided a COVID-19 update in a press conference today. Dr. Henry, British Columbia’s public health officer, announced that she will be extending the current public health restrictions on events and gatherings until February 16, 2022. The events and gatherings order relates to gathering restrictions in bars and restaurants as well as capacity limits in at indoor events. Dr. Henry also announced that as of January 20th, gyms and exercise facilities may open so long as capacity limits are in place and proof of vaccination is presented by all patrons. Additionally, masks must be worn at all times, except when exercising.
Dr. Henry further stated that there is a false perception among the public that the Omicron variant does not pose a significant risk. Dr. Henry stated that while the risk for younger, healthier individuals is lesser than from other COVID-19 strains, the risk still remains serious due to the high transmission rate. Dr. Henry stressed the impact that the COVID-19 vaccine has had on keeping widespread severe illness low but also stated that the risks from the current COVID-19 wave should not be understated.
CTV News is reporting that Doctors of BC and the BC Nurses Union have indicated that their members are facing increasingly difficult work conditions during the current Omicron COVID-19 wave. Dr. Ramneek Dosanjh, president of Doctors of BC is quoted as saying “I am hearing from some doctors who are just ready to quit. People have shared their honest feelings with me and they're feeling so consumed. They're emotionally exhausted. They're feeling depleted”. Aman Grewal, president of the BC Nurses Union provided similar sentiment, stating that nurses are under “incredible pressure” and are facing abuse from members of the public who have expressed frustration with the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis.
British Columbia’s Health Services provided updates on COVID-19 statistics in the province. The most recent data shows that there were 5,625 new cases and 22 new COVID-19 related deaths in the past 72 hours. 819 individuals are in hospital and 99 individuals are in intensive care. There are 35,985 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
To date, a cumulative 10,108,113 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the province, 4,155,929 of which are second doses. 92.4% of eligible people 12 years and older have now received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, 89.6% have received their second dose, and 30.5% have received their third dose.
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